Saturday, March 19.
Did a city tour today, its a saturday therefore the streets are not so insane with people and scooters, so I got to browse around and enjoy the beautiful French architecture that remains from the French colonization period.

Notre dam

Here in Saigon,( the correct phonetical translaction for  Saigon, is Shygon).
Saigon has a population of about 9 million people and is very modern and very clean.
We needed to exchange some cash into some dong, so Caroline went to an ATM and came back and gave me $100,000dong , she was worried that she had withdrawn too much , l said Caroline ,You drew out $4 and it cost you $15.40 US, To use the machine. She just kackled and walked away ,Then came back with  2.2 million Dong. That's my travel partner!!!
One of the most impressive buildings is the Notre Dame, the French built it using bricks they brought over from France just for this job. The post office is another example of their influence, really is beautiful, but kind of looks out of place. Of course, when the communists took control, catholicism ,as were most other religions, were forbidden and the churches lay fallow for a number of years.
I understand more about the wars in the part of the world now, and I'm not sure they are really over, in the minds of the Thai, the Cambodians, or the Viet.
As much as I love these countries, there is still quite a bit of animosity between each nation.
When the Tete Offensive took place, it seems there were so many players in the game, not to mention the USA, the Chinese, the French, and communist support from Hanoi, that I think no one really new what they were fighting for.
 The Tete Offensive occurred( the word Tete stands for NEW LUNAR NEW YEAR), which was when the Kmer Rouge attacked 100 cities all at once, the signal being, to cover the attack, were the lighting of fire crackers and rockets. Today I took a trip out to see the Cu Chi Tunnels ( pronounce GUCCI), this was amazing to see. I got to climb through about 100 meters of the tunnels, most of the time, both shoulders were simultaneously scraping against the side s of the tunnel, with my head about 12 inches above my knee. When I got to the end I could hardly walk, my quads were burning from the strain, and these guys had 125 miles of these tunnels, some three levels deep, with hospitals, kitchens, and sleeping areas in dug out caves

Climbing into the first tunnel, its been widened for the tourisT

 below, is an ant farm style depiction of what the tunnels looked like underground. They had 125 miles of them, three stories down in places, with the deepest deing 33 feet down. These included hospital rooms, sleep areas, kitchens, and officers meeting quarters